E-declarations: how Ukrainian officials share information about what they value most

E-declarations: how Ukrainian officials share information about what they value most

With the site lagging and data entry being difficult, the process of filling out electronic declarations by Ukrainian officials continues.

Reported by the Anti-Corruption Action Center portal, citing media.

From electronic declarations, Ukrainians learned how much cash officials hold.

As of 28 October, Ukrainian officials have filed more than 85 thousand electronic declarations. This was reported by Natalya Korchak, head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, on her Facebook page. The deadline for officials to submit electronic declarations is 30 October. So they are rushing.

REVEALED CASH DATA

Current Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who assumed office in 2016, earned 77 270 hryvnias in salary as Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada last year. In cash Groysman declared 2 million 280 thousand hryvnias, 870 thousand dollars, and 460 thousand euros.

Member of Parliament from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) Ruslan Demchak indicated 133 million hryvnias in cash. At the same time, on the deputy’s bank accounts there are 2 726 hryvnias. The Head of the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Nazar Holodnytsky, keeps onbank accounts 61 thousand 293 hryvnias, while in cash – 53 thousand dollars, 12 thousand euros and 50 thousand hryvnias.

Executive Director of the Center Against Corruption, Daryna Kaleniuk, in light of this trend, stated that she looks forward to the declaration of the head of the National Bank, Valeriya Honcharova. “I wonder how much cash is kept under the mattress by the head of the National Bank,” Kaleniuk asks on Facebook. In the declaration Valeriya Honcharova published in April, she had 44 million hryvnias on deposits in Ukrainian banks.

LIFE IN THE LUXURY STYLE

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman declared 12 luxurious watches, including brands: Rolex, Breguet, Girard-Perregaux, Parmigiani, Audemars Piguet, Ulysse Nardin.

Deputy from the People’s Front Ihor Kotvitsky declared part of his wardrobe. Among the deputy’s clothing are items from the Brunello Cucinelli brand: a jacket for 174 164 hryvnias and a suit for 109 615 hryvnias.

And interior minister Arsen Avakov proved to be a connoisseur of expensive wines. In his declaration he indicated about eight hundred bottles of wine. The oldest – French Chateau Mouton-Rothschild harvest 1945. The price per bottle of such wine at European auctions reaches 15 thousand dollars, writes the site “Novoe Vremya.”

NAMED BRANDS

Deputy Mustapha Naiem – owner of the brand “Mustapha Naiem”. Independent MP Dmytro Yarosh has the right to the trademark “Right Sector.” Interestingly, in December 2015 Yarosh left the “Right Sector” and created a new public-political movement “Diya”.

FUN FACTS AND CURIOITIES

The declarants most complained about the electronic system itself.

Mustafa Naiem admitted that a whole IT team helped him understand the system’s intricacies. “For a small fee we are ready to tell you how to submit a declaration without a patronymic. If you don’t know, I never had one, according to the passport,” the deputy writes on Facebook.

A lively discussion on social networks was sparked by the deputy from the BPP Anatoliy Matviienko declaring ownership of the premises of the Church of the Most Blessed Virgin in Vinnytsia region.

And the mayor of Kharkiv, Hennadiy Kernes, according to the declaration, rents a residential house with an area of seven square meters. Meanwhile the head of the BPP faction Ihor Hryniv, who proposed to close access to data about officials’ money and property to the general public, declared the first printed book in Ukraine “The Apostle,” published by Ivan Fedorov in Lviv in 1574.

The president Petro Poroshenko’s declaration remains intriguing. The National Agency on Prevention of Corruption warned that delaying the deadline to file declarations will not be tolerated. Those who provided false information in declarations are subject to criminal liability.